At a Catholic Mission in Yambuku, an oasis of peace and efficiency in northern Congo's vast jungle forests, Mabalo Lokela, a teacher, receives an anti-malarial shot for a raging fever and headache. Sister Lucie, a Flemish nursing sister, swishes out a syringe with a weak disinfectant. The next patients are injected with the same syringe and the sick man's virus spreads.

Lokela was the first Congolese victim of a new African hemorrhagic disease that became known as Ebola fever. When Sister Lucie dies a few days later, panic erupts and hospitalized patients flee into the forest. With the convent connected to the outside world by a single primitive radio, the mission nuns can only pray and wonder if anyone will act on their cries for help.

Back in 1995, 70% of my staff was lost to an Ebola virus outbreak in the town of Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo (then called ZAIRE). I left N’djili International Airport in Kinshasa on a flight headed back to the states, but decided to stopover in Belgium and Monaco. When I arrived in New York’s JFK airport 6 days later, I was immediately detained and quarantined for several hours (for medical observation). The customs agents realized I left Zaire 6 days prior to landing in New York, and (so-called) medical experts at the airport never knew enough about the disease to realize that it kills most of its victims, and/or death usually occurs within 48 hours. I did not have any signs of illness (whatsoever), there was no high fever, and there were no indications of (visible or) massive bleeding from me. If I were infected with Ebola virus, I would have never been able to “walk” off that aircraft, and anyone who was on that flight would have seen some sign of illness long before I arrived in the states. It was an embarrassing moment (not only for me, but) for U.S. Customs, and even though they felt they were being precautionary, it caused an unnecessary alarm and panic throughout the whole airport.
- Andre Jackson, Chairman of JFPI Corporation (Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of Congo)